| 26. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with a pair of verbs khamsu {חָמְס֣וּ | ḥāmə·sū} ‘do violence’ and vayechallelu {וַיְחַלְּל֣וּ | wa·ye·ḥal·lə·lū} ‘profan’, both taking torati {תוֹרָתִי֮ | tō·rā·ṯî} ‘my law’ and kadoshay {קָדָשַׁי֒ | qā·ḏā·šāy} ‘my holy things’, underscoring breaches of legal and cultic obligations. The alternating prepositional pairs bein {בֵּֽין־ | bên} … lechol {לְחֹל֙ | lə·ḥōl} and uvein {וּבֵין־ | ū·bên} … letahor {לְטָה֖וֹר | lə·ṭā·hôr} highlight the failure to distinguish sacred from common and unclean from clean, each reinforced by the negatives lo {לֹ֣א | lōʾ} before hibdilu {הִבְדִּ֔ילוּ | hiḇ·dî·lū} ‘separate’ and hodiu {הוֹדִ֑יעוּ | hō·ḏî·ʿū} ‘teach.’ The reference to umishabbototai {וּמִשַׁבְּתוֹתַי֙ | ū·mi·šab·bə·ṯō·ṯay} ‘my Sabbaths’ as a covenant sign, followed by heelimu {הֶעְלִ֣ימוּ | heʿ·li·mū} ‘hide,’ signals deliberate neglect, culminating in the Niphal imperfect vaechal {וָאֵחַ֖ל | wā·ʾê·ḥal} ‘I am profaned,’ which shifts the portrayal from human transgression to divine defilement. |